how you can leverage recruiters to build a career protection "pipeline"

866.755.9800 [email protected] 1

How You Can Leverage Recruiters to Build a Career Protection “Pipeline”

The Latest on Technical Recruiting Trends

From the Tech Job Market Zoo to the Corporate Goo...

How to Protect What You’ve Built So Far.

And What It All Means for You!

Recruiters Are People Too….No, Really, They Are!

Successfully Delivering Messaging & Job Search Solutions for CIOs, CTOs, Technology Executives, IT Experts & Business Leaders at Top National & Global Companies, Start-Up & Venture Capital Firms, Government Agencies and Contractors


(1) You only want to speak with recruiters when you are ready to consider a career change.

(2) You don’t mind speaking with them, but you are tired of them contacting you about jobs you don’t want or are poorly suited for.

(3) You’ve never considered recruiters useful to you as you’ve never needed to use them before.

Does this sound a bit familiar?



Yikes!

Tiring!

Times are a changin’!


We have this tendency to misunderstand their value when it comes to our careers going forward.

Love ‘em or leave ‘em, most professionals approach them incorrectly.

Also, if you’re like most professionals, you probably have an opinion about recruiters.



Much like how we plan for future career moves the same way we planned for past ones by disregarding current market demands and doing what we “think” works.

(Been there, done that!)


Recruiters don’t work for you, BUT

If you understand how uncertain today’s job market really is, you should be thinking more in terms of “ongoing”

career protection, at all times. And recruiters are one way to build in that protection.

they can still play a vital role in your career progression strategy.

By “uncertain,” I don’t mean lack of jobs. I mean, well, uncertain. Career moves are happening every 3 to 4 years. Even if you beat the odds, change is very much part of the market and our future, especially in tech fields.Of course, no one

career advancement strategy is full-proof or should be considered the only approach. Recruiters are just one option, but if handled with care, they are potentially a very good one.




Food for thought: How many times in the past 6 months would you say that a recruiter has contacted

you via LinkedIn?

FYI: Optimized LI profiles are seeing an average of 3 or more over a 6-month period

(and that is 3 with solid, well-matched opportunities).




There’s no doubtsocial recruiting is on the rise.

The stats paint an interesting picture:

• 93% of recruiters use LinkedInto find talent

• 89% of them are hiring fromLinkedIn

• 300 million people are now on LI

Click on image to find out more



For 2 years in a row, tech recruiters have reported “a lack of skilled candidates as their greatest

challenge and social media as their

greatest opportunity.” (study

by Bullhorn)

This should be good news for properly

positioned technical

pros…

http://stephenvanvreede.com/2014/04/18/dont-think-social-recruiting-affects-you/


With stats like that, it makes sense to build a strong recruiter network NOW…

not when you think you might need it.



Don’t avoid it just because you’ve never needed recruiters before (or find them irritating).


That’s where the idea of a pipeline comes in.

In sales and marketing, you hear about the concept of a pipeline all the time.

The idea is that you have an ongoing stream of opportunities coming from different sources.

Many professionals think of their peer-to-peer networking as a pipeline but don’t use recruiters in that way.

(It doesn’t have to be so daunting, by the way!)



Why not have both kinds of

pipelines?

http://www.ittechexec.com/job-search-solutions/


In an ideal world, we’d get all of our jobs through peer-to-peer networking referrals.

In the past, maybe you always have.

Today it’s much harder to rely on just 1 pipeline.

And with the tools now available, it’s much easier to reach out and make connections.




So let’s look at one “pipeline” story.“Dear ITtechExec: Two years ago, I knew that I was going to have to make a job change at some point, but I wanted to

avoid the job board runaround that I went through the last time. And although I ultimately ended up getting referred by a colleague of mine, it took a long time to get things going. So I decided that I would get more engaged with my peers

sooner but also start reaching out to recruiters who were properly matched for me and my goals.

It wasn’t a magic pill or anything, and it took some effort. I probably contacted 300 recruiters, but I did find 3 or 4 recruiters who would interact with me every so often when different opportunities came up. I even sent them some

prospects from my network. As a result, they got to know me and my skills sets better.

Sure enough. One of them eventually came through with a great role and was a strong advocate for me. It wasn’t overnight, but I wasn’t unemployed either. I was getting prepared.

Since then, I’ve kept in touch and have continued to help out my peer network as well as sift through opportunities my recruiter pipeline brings me. It is nice to know I’ve at least succeeded in dropping out of the ‘ job board rat race!’ And

you’re right, it does feel like career protection.”

(Adam S., Senior Software Developer, Houston, TX)




Nevertheless, not all recruiters are right for you.

When Adam was building his “pipeline,” LinkedIn was not as prominent and he did not have an efficient way to

“match” up with technical recruiters suited for him.

Let’s spend your time more efficiently.







How to Build Your Technical Recruiting Pipeline

1. Reducing Recruiter Mismatch

2. Using Recruiter Matching Solutions




Reducing Recruiter Mismatch on LinkedIn

Technical recruiters have been increasing their social recruiting efforts threefold over the last year.

BUT there has been a lot of frustration over recruiter mismatch (contacting professionals for poorly matched opportunities).

Therefore, to build an effective pipeline, we need to reduce this

mismatch, particularly on LinkedIn.




Food for thought: If a recruiter has contacted you through your LI profile, how many times has the recruiter presented you with a mismatched opportunity?

a. 3 or more timesb. 1-3 times

c. None

Optimized LI profiles are receiving less than 1 over a 6-month

period. Unoptimized ones are receiving 3 or more.




LinkedIn Optimization As a result, there has been discussion lately about the importance of LinkedIn optimization to better position professionals for social recruiting searches.

Many people think just because they have an LI profile (that typically mimics their resume), recruiters will find them using keyword searches or through groups, and present them with valid opportunities, but this isn’t always true.

More often than not, recruiters misconstrue the type of roles the professional is best suited for unfortunately sometimes because of the way the LinkedIn profile is presented (and because they don’t take the time to read through thoroughly!), which ends up being ineffective all around.

LinkedIn uses a search algorithm much like Google or other search engines do.




You want them coming to you for the RIGHT types of positions.

For more on this, you can check out my article “Tired of Recruiter Mismatch on LinkedIn”: http://ow.ly/tP4Kj.

So if you are putting a recruiter pipeline in place, you want to begin by ensuring that your LinkedIn profile will provide you with a flow of potential opportunities, from valid recruiters, even when you aren’t looking.

REMEMBER: You can always turn down an offer! It is much, much harder to do all this and get the pipeline up and running when the timing is “right.”

Timing is a tough game to play in today’s tech

job market.

A little bit of the right preparation can go

a long way!



http://ow.ly/tP4Kj

http://www.ittechexec.com/consultcall.html





Think “SMO,” Like “SEO”Again, whether we like the idea of dealing with recruiters or not, in today’s job market, using social recruiting to bring opportunities your way is one good option, especially when you AREN’T actively looking.

The average time spent on a job search is just too long for you to wait until you are in a more anxious situation.

And when building a recruiter pipeline, your LinkedIn profile should be the main priority because recruiters love LI. They just do.

Because recruiters generally prefer to find currently engaged professionals, it is wise to have your LI profile ready AT ALL TIMES. And by “ready,” I mean optimized. (It's kind of like SEO for social media.)




So let’s get them coming to you for the right opportunities.

And let’s get started building your recruiter pipeline YESTERDAY.

No matter how easy or simple the last career move was, we know this is important for today.

Do you have to do it?

No. You don’t have to do anything.

95% of technical professionals don’t.

As a result, they struggle to understand the market when the time is finally “right” for them to start looking.

This should be a

no-brainer, BUT

It’s not. Very few pros are

willing to adapt.

“I’ve had a 300% increase in recruiter attention on LI, and finally for the right jobs.”

Tom H. (Network Engineer, Seattle, WA)




How then do you become part of the 5% who are building a recruiter pipeline?

You should start by looking at how your LI profile is positioning you in the market and how to reduce the recruiter mismatch you are experiencing already on LinkedIn.

(If you currently aren’t getting any attention from recruiters on LI, then you REALLY need to see what’s going on! With 93% of them scouring LI, then you SHOULD be hearing from them.)

To help you get a better feel for where you currently stand with your LinkedIn profile, I’ve developed a simple self-assessment survey you can take that is quick to do, free, and helps you compare your

profile against those that are having more success on LI in building that recruiter pipeline:

LI Profile Optimization Self-Assessment

(You can also find out more about our LinkedIn Crash Course.)



http://ittechexec.polldaddy.com/s/linkedin-profile-optimization-self-assessment

http://ittechexec.polldaddy.com/s/linkedin-profile-optimization-self-assessment

http://www.ittechexec.com/linkedin-crash-course/


Using Recruiter MatchingSolutions

If we go back to Adam’s story, he did not know about recruiter matching options that would direct him to the best technical recruiters for him and

his situation/goals.




Think online dating with a different set of benefits!

You might not like the idea of “online dating,” but studies show it is actually quite effective at least at the “matching” part. So applying a similar concept to finding recruiters that are the best fit is a good idea.

As part of my career advisory work with CIO.com, TechRepublic, and Dice, I have come across a few different places that do recruiter matching.

I formed a partnership with one in particular as I think it does the best job all around.

It provides you with the recruiters best suited to you that you can then reach out and build a strong pipeline with.

Recruiter matching starts out by conducting research based on certain parameters, such as type of recruiter, location, specialty areas, etc., and then compiles a list of those that match up with those parameters.

It then launches a campaign for you to introduce you to those recruiters.




Recruiter matching saves time and frustration.

Now that geographic boundaries are no longer a main factor in finding recruiters, it’s important to find the ones best

matched with you so you can engage them as part of your pipeline.

The recruiting industry has ballooned over the past 5 years, and it is time-consuming to figure out which recruiters are right for you.



Recruiters no longer

live/work in the same state or

country they recruit for, necessarily.


Yes, recruiter matching does require some investment on your part.A research firm is working with you to prepare a proactive campaign launched on your behalf, and in my case, we use a certified Job

Search Agent to guide you through the process. The investment you make in your career will pay off in spades as you move through not just this move but the ones that will come after.

“I have a good set of recruiters that search for opportunities and supply them at will.”

Mike K. (PMP Los Angeles, CA)



Does today’s job search and social media all just seem like a big game to you? Honestly, it kind of is. Technology, as much as we love it, has taken the traditional job search process and made it more convoluted…and expensive. The good

news, however, is that some tools are opening up opportunities that were much harder to find before.

The challenge is in knowing which game is worth playing for you.


Let’s take a look at another “pipeline” story.

“Dear ITtechExec: In the past, I always had recruiters pop up from time to time with different opportunities. To be honest, I usually brushed them off because I knew my certifications and credentials were good. I believed that would always keep me marketable. After all, employers kept saying they wanted someone with exactly the background and skills I had. But then my thriving company

was bought out, and the incoming leadership wanted to take things in a new direction…a direction that didn’t leave much room for me. So I took a severance package and went on my way, confident that my connections would come through for me.

After a couple months went by, and my connections were pretty quiet, I started thinking about those recruiters who used to contact me all the time. I did my best to try and find them and reach out to them, but they were no longer as interested or had anything

that suited me. At that point, I wasn’t sure what to do other than apply to online postings and hope for my personal connections to come through finally. I don’t like to sit around, so I started doing some research and found out about recruiter matching.

It did a great job of finding the right recruiters for me, and I began reaching out to them until I managed to get about a dozen of them to correspond with me pretty regularly. They liked my credentials but were not enthused that I was unemployed. Nonetheless,

I was gently persistent in keeping the conversations going…all while kicking myself that I had not started doing this years ago!” (Ahmed R., Product Engineer, Boston, MA)




Today Ahmed is in a great new role, but he says the most important thing he learned was to “keep his pipelines working” and not to rely on his credentials to “sell” him next time.

He’s one of the 5% who understands the cost of doing nothing.

Here’s what I come across everyday: the 95% who continue to just toss out a resume when the time is “right” and hope for the best or who continue to see the market the way it was 5, 10, 15 years ago.

Then when that doesn’t go as planned, they are scrambling, upset with the market, frustrated to find out job boards don’t work too well (or at least too quickly), and confused.

It doesn’t have to be that way…



Today’s job search takes

about 1 month per every $10-20K you make!


No one said building a technical recruiter pipeline was easy…or that it should be the ONLY weapon in your job search arsenal….



But think of it this way:

If you have 25 more years left in the market, you might have as many as 8 more career moves ahead of you.

If you have 10 years left, you probably have about 3 more.

If you have 5 years left, you possibly have up to 2 more.

Even if you believe you will beat those odds, it still pays to be ready…and that’s where 95% of tech pros will miss the boat.

Remember: The cost of doing nothing is much greater down the road than any upfront cost in time and resources now. (Sadly, too many pros face this truth everyday!)

How could it hurt?


So, again, how do you become part of the 5% who are building a recruiter pipeline?You start by optimizing your LinkedIn profile to the latest LI search algorithm. Then you get properly matched with recruiters

who place people with your skills, goals, and experience. And in the meantime, you make sure your resume is at the ready for when the opportunities come.

Sounds too good to be true? It’s not…because it’s NOT a magic pill that takes all your career worries away.

Instead, it’s a preparation plan that builds in protection from getting lost out in the job market zoo.



The Best Way to Find Tech Recruiters

If you’re thinking spending hours on LinkedIn combing through search results is the way to go, you will quickly find that it eats up most of your precious job search time. Instead, you can get updated directories with all the latest contact info by

specialization, which will save you so much time and frustration!

Here are some directories you can purchase inexpensively and get started engaging recruiters today:

• U.S. Technical Recruiter Directory

• CIO Recruiter Directory

• IT Project/Program Management Recruiter Directory

Prefer a Customized List Instead? Find out more by clicking here.

http://ow.ly/LUsj1

http://ittechexec.com/technical-recruiting-pipeline/is-your-recruiter-right-for-you/directory-of-1300-u-s-based-technical-recruiters/how-to-find-cio-recruiters-in-an-instant/

http://ittechexec.com/technical-recruiting-pipeline/is-your-recruiter-right-for-you/directory-of-1300-u-s-based-technical-recruiters/directory-of-u-s-it-project-manager-recruiters/

http://ittechexec.com/concierge-technical-recruiter-matching-list/


Technical Recruiter Engagement Crash Course

Sometimes, though, it’s about more than just finding the right technical recruiter. Once you do, there’s the engagement.

And by recruiters’ own admission, this engagement is not easy.

Recruiters have to be careful what they do and do not say. So they often have their own “recruiters speak” that might say one thing and mean another.

It’s why my team and I have developed this crash course. We provide a customized, 1-1 crash course with me that is guaranteed to (1) get you up to speed without taking too much of your time (1-2 hours tops), (2) give you a strategy tailored to your goals (new job or future career advancement), and (3) provide you with the certainty that you need

to know only what you need to know and the convenience of not having to spend hours of free time doing the wrong things or reading up on all the latest recruiting hype. And we do it all for only $295!

To learn more, check out an overview on our site: http://www.ittechexec.com/technical-recruiter-engagement-crash-course/

http://www.ittechexec.com/technical-recruiter-engagement-crash-course/

http://www.ittechexec.com/technical-recruiter-engagement-crash-course/

http://www.ittechexec.com/


About Stephen Van Vreede

Stephen Van Vreede is not your average IT/technical résumé writer.

He provides career strategy and concierge job search solutions for senior (15+ years) (ITtechExec) and up-and-coming (NoddlePlace) (5-15 years) tech and technical

operations leaders.

Stephen and his team focus on building simplified, targeted, and certain career move campaigns, be it an external search or an internal promotion. He is co-author

of UNcommon with career development leader Brian Tracy (June 2015).

Contact Stephen directly at [email protected] or send him an invite at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenvanvreede.

To see whether Stephen and his team are a good fit for you, take their free (and anonymous) compatibility quiz, Is the ITtechExec Approach a Good Match for You?


http://www.noddleplace.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenvanvreede

http://ittechexec.polldaddy.com/s/is-ittechexec-approach-best-for-you





Another way to meet Stephen:Set up your complimentary Upcoming Career Move Prep Session

with Technical Resume Writer & Career Strategist, Stephen Van Vreede, today.

We've made it easy to schedule your consult with Stephen. Simply click on the calendar image below to schedule your appointment. (If you can arrange to have Internet access during the call, then he can share his desktop

presentation with you.) You will receive 1 confirmation email and 1 follow-up note from Stephen sent through our Appointment Core admin (Links make life so simple when they're working, but sometimes they take on a life of their

own. If for some reason the link doesn't work properly here, please email Sheree directly at [email protected]!):

**Please look for the "admin" email from Stephen that has information regarding the call. It usually arrives within an hour of booking the appointment.**


http://www.scheduleyou.in/u5Lxen2Q4A?Id=~Contact.Id~

Successfully Delivering Messaging & Job Search Solutions for CIOs, CTOs, Technology Executives, IT Experts & Business Leaders at Top National & Global Companies, Start-Up & Venture Capital Firms, Government Agencies and Contractors


Maybe you can relate….

A lot of times we know what we “should” do, but either we don’t do it or we just wait until we have to because:• We no longer have the ambition we once did• We have kids to raise and focus on• We believe the obstacles we will face in the market

are too overwhelming or exhausting to face• Work no longer matters much• We’re too busy• We always figure something out when we need to• We’re not really sure what we want to do next• We have external concerns that weigh on us• We have other unfulfilled goals and dreams


To learn more about ITtechExec or NoddlePlace:

Check ITtechExec Out

Or call Stephen toll-free at 1-866-755-9800; email at [email protected]. (When you contact us, we will help determine which of our approaches is best for you.)

Check NoddlePlace Out

http://www.ittechexec.com/contact/



mailto:[email protected]





Coming in Summer 2015: The latest release by Brian Tracy featuring Stephen Van Vreede. Click here to receive an advanced chapter release:

The Rise of the Corporate Entrepreneur

https://ei215.infusionsoft.com/app/form/it-resume-book2

https://ei215.infusionsoft.com/app/form/it-resume-book2


ITtechExecProtecting the Technical Career You’ve

Built So FarITtechExec members are senior managers, directors, executives, and C-level tech leaders (15+y ears of experience) who specialize in the following fields:

• CIO & CTO• IT Operations • Project/Program Management• Enterprise Architecture• Telecommunications• Engineering (Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical…)• Manufacturing• Call Center Operations• Technical Sales Leadership• Medical Device• And all things technical related…

These members have worked hard to get where they are today, and they are committed to investing in protecting and maintaining these careers. They come to us as guides through the technical job market “zoo” to help them invest their valuable time and resources wisely on solutions that produce effective results.

NoddlePlaceYour Technical Career Advancement.

SIMPLIFIED.NoddlePlace members are the up-and-coming versions of our ITtechExec members. With about 5 to 15 years of technical career experience under their belts, they are dedicated to investing in steady career advancement.

They understand that they are likely to make 8 to 10 career moves over the next 25+ years of their career, and they are looking not just at getting a resume but at building in a strategic approach that positions them for this next move and beyond.

As with ITtechExec, we provide a concierge-type service, where we combine the resume portfolio side with the job search “launch” side.

Our goal is to produce measurable ROI and to reduce the stress that comes with job search and career management for both our NoddlePlace and ITtechExec members.

At NoddlePlace, we make technical career advancement simple in a job market that’s gone insane.